Compound nouns with some- and any- are used in the same way as some and any.

Positive statements:“Someone is sleeping in my bed.” “He saw something in the garden.” “I left my glasses somewhere in the house.”

Questions:

“Are you looking for someone?” (= I’m sure you are) “Have you lost something?” (= I’m sure you have) “Is there anything to eat?” (a real question) “Did you go anywhere last night?”

Negative statements:

“She didn’t go anywhere last night.” “He doesn’t know anybody here.”

There is a difference in emphasis between nothing, nobody etc. and not … anything, not … anybody:

“I don’t know anything about it.” (= neutral, no emphasis) “I know nothing about it.” (= more emphatic, maybe defensive) “ Is there anybody who speaks English here?” “There is nobody in the house at the moment.” “Does anybody have the time?” “When I arrived there was nobody to meet me.”

ANY can also be used in positive statements to mean ‘no matter which’, ‘no matter who’, ‘no matter what':

“You can borrow any of my books.” “They can choose anything from the menu.” “You may invite anybody to dinner, I don’t mind who comes.”